The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Jinja , Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Three contestants who lost the southern division mayoral seat in Jinja City to National Resistance Movement’s-NRM, Ashiraf Nasser have faulted electoral commission officials of voter fraud.
Southern Division is part of the newly created electoral areas within Jinja city where polling exercise took place on Monday.
While declaring results on Tuesday evening, the Jinja City Returning Officer, Jennifer Kyobutungi declared Nasser winner with 6,910 votes followed by National Unity Platform’s-NUP flag bearer, Mohammed Musisi with 4,973 votes. Mubarak Kirunda, an independent candidate got 3,749 votes while Forum for Democratic Change’s-FDC William Ebusa garnered 3,319 votes.
Led by Musisi, losers say that, Nasser was declared a winner without conclusively tallying results from four wards within the division which creates suspicion of possible voter fraud.
Musisi says that they laboured to arraign their complaints before Kobutungi but she instead called them out of order and directed security operatives to arrest them. Musisi adds that he was pepper-sprayed and battered while attempting to oppose some of the results that were being tallied.
Ebusa says that candidates attempted to oppose some of the election results from polling stations which did not tally with their declaration of results forms, but they were instead assaulted by police personnel without their voices being heard.
However, Kyobutungi dismissed the allegations and tasked all aggrieved parties to seek court redress as she lacks the mandate to handle such complaints.
On his part, Nasser pledged to agitate for the enactment of bylaws aimed at improving garbage collection and the general social welfare of city dwellers within his jurisdiction.
********
URN
